# Best and worst duty stations



## Monello

Do tell.  Which branch of service, years of service, job description and why.


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## ZARA

Monello said:


> Do tell.  Which branch of service, years of service, job description and why.



*Speaking for my Beloved*
Navy 20 yrs PR
Worst - Corpus Christi TX - Reason: on a cold day you could fry an egg on the sidewalk & it rained mud.
Best - Pensacola FL - What's not to love about P-cola?!


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## Merlin99

ZARA said:


> *Speaking for my Beloved*
> Navy 20 yrs PR
> Worst - Corpus Christi TX - Reason: on a cold day you could fry an egg on the sidewalk & it rained mud.
> Best - Pensacola FL - What's not to love about P-cola?!


 Charleston SC. was the best base I was stationed at, the other two I worked at, but not assigned to were St. Mawgens in Cornwall and Adak AK. Navy ET.


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## aps45819

USN, 10 years, Electronics Tech
Best duty was the communications station in Hawaii. mostly a typical day job and they had a shortage of base housing. As an E5 I was able to get another E5 room mate and afford a 3 bedroom beach house on the North Shore about a mile from Waimea Bay.

Worst was a yard period in Portsmouth Naval shipyard (actually Kittery Me) in the winter


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## Rommey

Well, excluding Basic (Lackland, TX) and Tech School (Keesler, MS), I was only at three bases in 22 years, so my choices are rather limited.
Worst is Altus AFB, OK...more churches per capita than anywhere (my guess) and what sidewalks they did have were rolled up by 9PM. 
Spent 1½ years in Rota Spain unaccompanied; I liked the place, just wish the family could have been there...
Spent the balance of career (~17 years) at Andrews. Doesn't make it the "best" just most familiar.


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## GURPS

US Army - Inf 

Colorado Springs 85 - 87
Camp Greaves Korea 87 - 88


Colorado Springs was nice in the 80's ....
Google Street View is a great way to see how the old neighborhood has changed in 25 yrs ....


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## Ken King

USAF, 12 years, radar operations and electronic warfare.  Six permanent change of stations and hundreds of days deployed.

Worst station, the one I was at.  Best station, the one I was going to.


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## DoWhat

USN, 10 years, Aviation Elect. Tech, Electronic Warfare Operator (EWOP).
Best: Rota, Spain

Worst: The Big Grey Boats (but the port stops were great)


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## CrashTest

Gaeta Italy back in the 60's when America was loved and respected.  Don't know about now.

Pictured here, 6th Fleet Flag Ship, USS Little Rock circa 1969


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## islander

Monello said:


> Do tell.  Which branch of service, years of service, job description and why.



USN  20yrs Navy airdale
Best: NAS Key West- Weather, things to do.
Close 2nd: NAS Brunswick, Me. Beautiful area, Rocky coast, islands a lot to see
Worst: NAS Albany, Ga; Georgia - ugh


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## Monello

I was a blackshoe with an aircrew NEC.  I did that for 5 1/2 years.  I was on the road around 10 days a month on average.  We got to go to some really different places.  I got to go to Agra, India and see the Taj Mahal.  It was a geedunk trip for sure.  One weekend we flew from Andrews to Deadhorse, Alaska doing an RON in Fairbanks, Alaska in April.  It was in the 60s that day and the locals were all out in shorts and short sleeve shirts.  There was still a bunch of snow on the ground.

We did a lot of NATO support.  Spent a lot of time in London and Brussels.  I did 2 around the world flights just before and just after the Persian Gulf war.

The crew had a lot of down time once we landed.  The per diem fueled the happy hours and shopping sprees.  My only regret is that I didn't have a digital camera for those trips.  I'd have some amazing pictures for sure.


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## oldman

USN, 62-82, cryptologic tech
Pensacola, Florida
Bremerhaven, Germany
USS Oxford, AGTR-1
Northwest, Virginia
San Miguel, P.I.
National Security Agency
Karamursel, Turkey
Rota, Spain
CinCLantFlt, Norfolk
Not a bad station in the bunch.  Enjoyed them all.


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## edinsomd

USN, 1979-1996, Aviation ASW Operator
Not counting boot camp or deployment sites,
Norfolk, VA
Jacksonville, FL
Brunswick, ME
Patuxent River, MD
Norfolk I liked the least- "Dogs and sailors keep off the grass."
Brunswick was nice with all four seasons- June, July, August, and Winter.
I suppose Pax River is my favorite, since I'm still here!


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## musiclady

Navy wife.  No areas were terrible, some of the duties were difficult.  Training in Saratoga Springs, NY brought us to horse racing.  Charleston, SC was beautiful but his first sub deploy resulted in a death onboard.  Va Beach was good, but Portsmouth was ridiculous.  Ship was in drydock and still they had 100 hour work weeks and every 3 day 8 hour on 2 off duties watching boards that weren't even connected!  Stopped at 6 years and came to Maryland.  Each was useful and we have no regrets.  Sometimes I still miss it.  I know he doesn't though.


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## b23hqb

USN, Jun 1972 - Jun 1976 (RM)

Best: NCS Asmara, Ethiopia (Jan 73 - Jul75), of all places. Terrific duty, lots of time off, motorcycles everywhere.

Even better, for a while: NavCommUnit (July 74 - July75), Asmara, Ethiopia. Left behind 12 swabbies with a Lt(jg), one army officer, and a bunch of Harris and NSA civilians. We wore civies, no haircuts, got paid per diem and great duty manning the receiver site/crypto. Until we started getting shot at by the ELF rebels and several of our civilians were killed and a few kidnapped but later returned safely.

Ho-hum but pretty good for my last 10 months in the Nav: Onboard USS Worden CG-18, home ported Yokosuka, Japan. Got my blue water legs, Shellback'd, South Pac Austrialia and Indian Ocean cruise, Ceylon, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Pusan, and about 10 stops in the Subic Bay, P.I. Olongapo City!


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## GW8345

USN 20.5 years - Aviation Ordnanceman

NAS Cecil Field
NAS Oceana
NAS Pax River

Plus going on det's all over the country and deploying to just about every part of the world.

All of them good duty station, worst duty station, every carrier I was on while it was sitting in the Persian Gulf. Talk about being hot, the average temp on deck during the day was 125 to 130 (though we did record a 161 one day) and at night it was 95 to 100. My shop did not have A/C, just force air from the outside, in the morning there would be a thin layer of sand on everything in the shop even though we had cheese cloth covering the vent. One cruise we spent 143 days in the Gulf, the next cruise we spent a little over 90 days. I truly say that being on a ship in the Persian Gulf in the middle of August is the closest you will get to being in hell while still alive, you would sweat even while taking a shower, and there was no chilled water to be found.


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## Monello

b23hqb said:


> about 10 stops in the Subic Bay, P.I. Olongapo City!



I went to Olongapo on vacation in 2008.  Boy has that placed changed.  Mostly for the better.  Magsaysay drive is all cleaned up and all the bars are gone.  Who can forget their first stroll down that street right around sunset.


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## b23hqb

Monello said:


> I went to Olongapo on vacation in 2008.  Boy has that placed changed.  Mostly for the better.  Magsaysay drive is all cleaned up and all the bars are gone.  Who can forget their first stroll down that street right around sunset.



What a sight those three decker bars were the length of the street. Used to have a t-shirt that had them all labled. I guess it has been rebuilt since Pinatubo blew back in the early 90's..


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## Ken King

b23hqb said:


> What a sight those three decker bars were the length of the street. Used to have a t-shirt that had them all labled. *I guess it has been rebuilt since Pinatubo blew back in the early 90's.*.


How in the Hell did you remember her name?


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## BOP

Navy, aircrew, early to mid 70s.  Best duty: San Diego...did 2 tours there, 1 at North Island and 1 at Imperial Beach.  Did a tour at Subic, and it was great early on, but wore off after a while.  Oakland was probably the worst.  Oakland is a spanish word meaning "taint."  Memphis was a close 2nd, but that was training, so short-term, not a 3-year tour.


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## CrashTest

CrashTest said:


> Gaeta Italy back in the 60's when America was loved and respected.  Don't know about now.
> 
> Pictured here, 6th Fleet Flag Ship, USS Little Rock circa 1969



An interesting BTW is that current Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was stationed on the USS Little Rock when this pic was taken in Gaeta and served for my Dad as a JG.


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## StadEMS3

Rommey said:


> Spent the balance of career (~17 years) at Andrews.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Once you get to Andrews you never leave!
> 
> USAF, MSgt 22yrs & 3 bases.
> 
> (87-92) Loring AFB, ME- KC-135A & R crew chief
> (92-94) NAS Keflavik, Iceland- KC135A, E, R crew chief
> (94-09) Andrews AFB- VC-137, C-32 and Air Force One Flying Crew Chief
> 
> I can't say any of my tours sucked. They each their good and bad times. I would do again in a minute!
Click to expand...


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## molly_21

I was USN, AT. I did 4 years. I liked VP-30, but hated everything else about Jax,Fl except it was close to Orlando. Then I was at VAQ-209. That was "OK" but great sea duty for reg Nav, since it was a TAR command. Andrews was ok,  but liked the Navy brought me back to MD


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## TWL

16th Engineer Battalion - Combat Engineer
Erlangen, Germany (Jan 1993 - Dec 1993)
Bamberg, Germany (Dec 1993 - Jan 1995)
Deployed to Khobar Towers, Saudi Arabia (July 1993 - Dec 1993) (Best)

19th Replacement Company - R&U 
Ft. Bragg, NC (Jan 1995 - Feb 1996)

82nd Engineer Battalion - Combat Engineer/Heavy Equipment Operator
Bamberg. Germany (Feb 1996 - May 1998) 
Deployed to Bosnia (March 1997 - Nov 1997) (Worst)


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## acommondisaster

20 years Navy Cryptologist.

P'cola for school
Cincpacflt Hawaii
NSGA Homestead
USCincpac Hawaii
White House Communications Agency (10 years)

I wasn't fond of Homestead. Too much petty BS - it was more of a command thing than a dislike of the area - though the whole Miami area was an armpit during the Cuban Boatlift (yay Jimmy Carter). Both of my Hawaii tours were a blast - great duty, great lifelong friends. White House was hard work, long hours, but very rewarding and I had the opportunity to see history being made many times and it allowed my family to be stable, though I spent a great deal of time TDY. I don't think I could pick a favorite.


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## PsyOps

Air Force 20 years.  Electronic communications/networking.

Worst duty station was Kwang Ju Korea.
Best duty station was Eglin AFB, FL.

Most rewarding was working in Office of Special Investigations (OSI) at Andrews.


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## Rommey

StadEMS3 said:


> Once you get to Andrews you never leave!
> 
> (94-09) Andrews AFB- VC-137, C-32 and Air Force One Flying Crew Chief



I'm guessing we probably have crossed path a few times. Although I retired in 2002, I'm still working here. I was here 83-94 (active duty - 89th FMS/EMS/MXS), 96-98 (as a contractor), 98-02 (back on active duty - 89th AGS/LSS), 2002-present (retired/contractor).


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## PsyOps

StadEMS3 said:


> Once you get to Andrews you never leave!
> 
> USAF, MSgt 22yrs & 3 bases.
> 
> (87-92) Loring AFB, ME- KC-135A & R crew chief
> (92-94) NAS Keflavik, Iceland- KC135A, E, R crew chief
> (94-09) Andrews AFB- VC-137, C-32 and Air Force One Flying Crew Chief
> 
> I can't say any of my tours sucked. They each their good and bad times. I would do again in a minute!



Do you know any of the CSOs on AF1?


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## Rommey

PsyOps said:


> Do you know any of the CSOs on AF1?


I do...


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## PsyOps

Rommey said:


> I do...



I work with them routinely.


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## tuffenuff2

Navy wife- 25 years Cryptologist. Before we got married my husband was on lots of ships and 'THE MIGHTY EP_3 ORION". Imperial Beach, Naples ,Rota .After wedding-, San Antonio, Guam, Whidbey Island, Winter Harbor, Ottawa Canada, Naval Research Lab. Now working in the Pentagon. The worst for me was Guam- he was always flying missions and I was home alone with an 18 month old . Dead boonie dogs and cats left at the side of the road to bloat and rot. Did not appreciate the islands beauty until nearly the end of tour. All the other tours were great. We actually miss moving and get itchy feet every three years.


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## Taz

Ex Navy ET - I most enjoyed Mayport, FL and NAS Meridian, MS...hated Norfolk and Great Lakes


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## b23hqb

Taz said:


> Ex Navy ET - I most enjoyed Mayport, FL and NAS Meridian, MS...hated Norfolk and Great Lakes



But Great Lakes is just so lovely December- March of every year.......


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## MMDad

Taz said:


> Ex Navy ET - I most enjoyed Mayport, FL and NAS Meridian, MS...hated Norfolk and Great Lakes



Chicago is the as*s*hole of the world, and Great Lakes is 40 miles up it.


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## MADPEBS1

3 year AT on S3A's 1976-1979
Great Lake in WINTER, WTF was i thinking, SUCKED!!!
Memphis AT A School - Loved it 
San Diego S3 FRAMP - LOVED it
Cecil Field, Fl, Cecil Sucked by Jacks was Fun... Stayed on IKE in Norfolk (Sucked) during workups, First CVN Ike Cruise to Med was Cool. the things i did!!!! 
Finished my 2 years Active reserve here at PAX VP-68 while working F-18 FSD program, been here since!


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## somdforever

*What S-3 sqd in 76-79?*



MADPEBS1 said:


> 3 year AT on S3A's 1976-1979
> Great Lake in WINTER, WTF was i thinking, SUCKED!!!
> Memphis AT A School - Loved it
> San Diego S3 FRAMP - LOVED it
> Cecil Field, Fl, Cecil Sucked by Jacks was Fun... Stayed on IKE in Norfolk (Sucked) during workups, First CVN Ike Cruise to Med was Cool. the things i did!!!!
> Finished my 2 years Active reserve here at PAX VP-68 while working F-18 FSD program, been here since!



Had VS-38 on the Enterprise in '78.  Did some flying with them as a passenger into and out of Guam and P.I.


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## StadEMS3

PsyOps said:


> Do you know any of the CSOs on AF1?



Yup, I knew a lot of CSO's and flew with them.

Rommey- I'm sure we crossed paths. I also worked 89th AGS A Flight assigned to 697Gore (4) from 94-99 before moving to AF1.


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## acommondisaster

I retired late in 95 - we may have crossed paths as well.


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## airgremlin

USN 12 and a half AME
Best Rota Spain working EA-3B's and EP-3E's in VQ-2
havn't been any where I didn't like


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## DoWhat

airgremlin said:


> USN 12 and a half AME
> Best Rota Spain working EA-3B's and EP-3E's in VQ-2
> havn't been any where I didn't like



What years were you there.
I was there from 87-91.


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## tuffenuff2

DoWhat said:


> What years were you there.
> I was there from 87-91.



My husband and I met there in'89 . He left there in '90. My Uncle was stationed there '87-91. Not with VQ2 though.


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